This invention relates to apparatus for accurately positioning an electrical outlet box adjacent to a vertically disposed stud whereby electrical outlet boxes can be uniformly installed throughout a building on either side of the building wall studs.
A number of electrical outlet box locators are known and used in the art which are designed to locate an outlet box adjacent to a wall stud prior to securing the box to the stud. Some of these devices such as those depicted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,115 and 4,479,639 are rather complex and require a good deal of adjusting before they can be put into use. If the adjusting mechanism falls out of adjustment during installation of the outlet boxes, the boxes will be misset and most likely have to be removed and reset. Removal and resetting of the outlet boxes can be a costly and time consuming procedure.
An electrical outlet box mounting tool is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,523. The device described in this patent employs a relatively heavy support column having slotted holes for slidably receiving therein one side wall of an electrical outlet box. The heavy column is not only difficult to transport and store, but also provides a rather unstable means for supporting the outlet box during installation. Here again, the box can become easily misaligned within the slotted holes and thus be installed at the wrong depth or in a tipped position. An outlet set at the wrong depth or in a tipped position generally is not discovered until such time as the wall board is installed. To correct the situation, the wall board must be removed and the outlet box reset. Most wall boards in use today cannot be removed without totally destroying the board, which again, can make resetting of the outlet costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,879 involves a hand-held device for locating electrical outlet boxes on either side of a wall stud. The device further includes a number of threaded adjusting members that can easily become loosened and fall out of adjustment. The device includes a central support block for engaging a stud and a pair of spring members protruding to either side of the block, each of which can support an outlet box. The open face of the outlet box is slipped over a selected one of the springs, depending upon which side of the stud the box is to be positioned, and the block then spaced against the face of the stud. A vertical rod is used to position the device at a desired elevation. However, because of the loose connection afforded between the spring holding member and the outlet box, it is difficult to maintain the box at a location for installation.